Stevie
by Lovetoread75
Summary: Steve Evie Love This is the last story in my series about each of the guys' girlfriends. This one is about Steve. A lot of fics write Steve as a jerk, but I made him half decent. After all he is Soda's best friend and Soda wouldn't be friends with a total jerk:) So read, enjoy and let me know what you think.
1. Chapter 1

It was a hot sweaty Summer day and both Steve and Soda were at work.

"This heat is killing me," Soda complained pressing down the hood of the car he's been working on and wiping the sweat off his face with his shirt.

"Shut up and I'll tell you something," Steve said getting out from under a Ford. "What's that?" Soda turned around to look at his friend.

"I decided," Steve paused wiping his hands on a rag … "I'm gonna propose to Evie." Soda was caught off guard.

"No way man," he said sitting down on a curb, "really?"

"Yep, I thought about it for a while. I don't want anybody else. She digs me and I dig her, we are meant to be." Steve said opening a Pepsi and taking a sip. Soda was silent for a moment not knowing what to say. Steve and Evie have been dating for a long time, but Soda still didn't know how serious Steve's feelings for Evie were.

"Well, congrats man, but now you got to buy a ring." Soda noticed, getting up and getting a Pepsi as well.

"No kidding," Steve sighed, "I figured I've saved up enough to afford it."

"You are gonna blow all your savings on the ring man? I don't know if that's such a great idea," Soda started, while going to sit under the tree in the shade, but Steve interrupted him, "shut up man, of course it's a good idea, what else do I got to do, I can't propose without a ring." Then he said calmer "can you go with me, I mean to pick it?"

"Sure, I don't know how helpful I'm gonna be but I'll go with you."Soda assured his friend, taking the last sip of his Pepsi.

Later that night Steve told the rest of the gang about his decision, and they all congratulated him.

The next day Steve and Soda went to pick out the ring. They looked so out of place in that jewelry store. There was jewelry worth thousands and thousands of dollars, and the shoppers were all dressed nicely – women in nice summer dresses and pearls around their necks, men in button down shirts or nice suits, and here were Steve and Soda wearing black t-shirts and jeans and converses, hair heavily greased. It didn't escape them how the store clerk eyed them suspiciously as if they were there to steal or cause trouble.

"What do you think of that one?" Steve said hesitantly and pointed to a white gold ring with a large diamond in the center and two smaller ones on each side.

"I dunno man, looks really expensive." Soda shrugged.

Steve swallowed hard - "Excuse me miss, can we take a look at that ring," Steve pointed to it. She gave him a look that said why are you asking you will never be able to afford it, but she nevertheless took out the ring from under the glass and stretched her arm and gave the ring to Steve. She looked like she was afraid he was going to take off with the ring.

The ring was beautiful, the diamonds shimmering in the light like a halo. Steve turned it around to see the price tag - $6,999. His face turned into a grimace as he gave the ring back to the salesgirl, whose face was turning red. "Um," she cleared her throat, "what price range were you looking at?" "Three thousand dollars," Steve said sternly.

"Follow me." She led them to another section in the store.

"Here is everything up to three thousand dollars," she said briskly. Steve looked at the rings. Most of them were ugly.

"Shit man this isn't going well," he said to Soda disappointment in his voice "these are really ugly."

"What about that one?" Soda pointed to one of the rings in the corner. It was a princes cut diamond on the ring that was made out of sterling silver overlaid with white gold.

"That one is actually really nice," Steve looked hopeful.

Steve ran his fingers through his hair - "Excuse me ma'am can we take a look at that one?" he asked the salesgirl. She lazily walked up to where Steve was standing. She looked annoyed like she thought they were wasting her time and weren't actually going to buy anything. She lifted up the glass and gave Steve the ring, right away he looked at the price tag – 2,995.

"So whatya think?" Soda asked, taking the ring out of Steve's hands and examining it.

"Looks darn good to me," Steve said, then added unsure, "you think she's gonna like it?" Soda kept examining the ring front and back.

"I think it's real tuff, I think she'd be a fool not to like it." Soda replied honestly. Steve turned the ring in his hands, then positioned it so the light fell on it, "it shimmers real nice," he said.

"Yeah," Soda agreed, "just like that other one that's six grand that we were looking at before." Steve had a determined expression on his face – "All right I'll get it."

On the way back Steve was really excited – "oh, man we gotta celebrate it, let's go to Buck's." Then he stopped in a sudden realization – "what if she says no?"

"Oh, don't think about it," Soda tried to comfort him. "You said it yourself she digs you just like you dig her, she'll say yes." He said with finality.

Soon they got to Buck's. They spent the whole evening and Steve got a little drunk.

"So when are you gonna do it, when are you gonna propose and have you decided how?" Soda asked yawning. Steve burped – "oh, I really didn't need that 6th drink," he managed, swaying to the side a little and then flopping on one of the couches.

"Easy, buddy," Soda chuckled, "you'll be ok."

"What do you mean how am I going to propose?" Steve asked, his speech slightly slurred. "I'm just gonna ask her next time I see her."

"No man, you gotta make it special," Soda said thoughtfully, taking a seat next to Steve on the couch.

"Whatdyamean?"

"Like people always propose in some special way like on a cruise or make the billboards read 'Will you marry me', you dig?"

"Now that I think about it, you're right, I dunno what I'm gonna do." Steve looked worried.

"I think you are done for tonight, buddy," Soda smiled, "we'll talk about it tomorrow."

"Ok," Steve agreed, getting in the car.

"No," Soda prompted.

"What do ya mean?" Steve asked, confused.

"In the passenger seat," Soda instructed, "you are in no condition to drive."

"Fine, you drive," Steve moved over and they started the ride home.


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning Steve had a headache. Thank God it's Saturday he thought. He stumbled into the kitchen and made himself some coffee. Then he took the ring out of his pocket and looked at it, he turned it around making the light reflect in the diamond making it sparkle and shine. I gotta find a special way to propose he remembered. He sat down – a coffee mug in hand and a cigarette in the other. He started to think of all the ways he could propose – take her dancing and take the mic from the DJ and ask her, nah he thought too many people around, take her on a picnic – too cheesy, maybe I can take her to the beach and write on the sand "Will you marry me?" He liked that idea. Not corny and not a lot of people around. He finished his coffee and grounded his cigarette.

His dad walked into the kitchen, "What ya smiling about?" he asked gruffly. His dad just as Steve was getting over a hangover. His appearance was disheveled – his black hair was sticking out in every direction, his shirt unbuttoned. He poured himself a cup of coffee.

"I'm smiling 'cause I have something nice in my life for a change." Steve smiled even wider.

"What's that?" his dad asked scratching his head.

"I'm gonna marry Evie." Steve said proudly, looking his dad straight in the eyes. His dad stopped what he was doing abruptly – "you what?" he asked as if he thought he heard wrong.

"I'm gonna marry Evie Reynolds" Steve repeated louder, "and that's why I'm smiling 'cause I love her, but you wouldn't know anything 'bout that," Steve added somewhat bitterly, and regretted it right away. He didn't mean to say that, he didn't need another fight with his dad, but it just happened. Steve's dad divorced his mom when Steve was really young. Steve's dad liked going to bars and bringing different women home. Steve really hoped his dad wouldn't start on him after he said that. He stared out the window intensely and avoided his dad's gaze.

"You watch it, don't be mouthing off to me," his dad pointed a finger in Steve's face. Steve clenched his teeth and turned his face away from his dad's finger, frowning.

"Where are you going to live? What are you going to eat?" His dad snorted taking a sip of his coffee and walking away. Steve felt a pang of anxiety in his stomach - he hadn't thought it all the way through. What he was making at the DX would barely be enough to rent one bedroom on the poor side of town, but then there are other bills like gas, electric, cable. He felt beads of sweat form on his forehead. Maybe Evie could get a job he thought. He sighed heavily, he didn't know how things were going to turn out, but he knew one thing for sure he loved Evie Reynolds and he wanted to marry her before some other hood may make a move on her. He decided to go through with the proposal.

He took a quick shower and skipped breakfast that cup of coffee was all he had. Next he called Evie. "Hi babe what are you doing?" he asked affectionately, twirling the phone cord in between his fingers.

"Nothing, I'm bored," Evie complained.

"Wanna go to the beach?" he suggested trying to sound as casual as possible.

"Who's going?"

"Just me and you. Since when you need company, am I not enough?"He asked half joking and half serious. She giggled, "all right pick me up when you are ready." She said and then she hung up.

Steve felt his heart beat faster. This was it, the big moment. He put a nice shirt on and carefully combed his hair, putting just enough grease in it, then he sprayed some cologne onto his shirt - he wanted to look good for this occasion. He took the box with the ring from the table. He opened it and played with the ring in his hands, looking at how the light reflected in the diamond. It sure was beautiful, good choice he thought, mentally thanking Soda for picking out this ring.

In about half an hour he was at Evie's. She was wearing spaghetti strap blue top, a denim skirt that was short but not too short and white flip-flops that said "drama queen" on them. Her wheat color hair was down. She noticed Steve's nice shirt "don't you look nice today," she giggled.

"Thanks babe you look beautiful," Steve gave her a peck on the lips.

They got into the car. Steve cranked the radio up and was singing along loudly.

"Someone's in a good mood," Evie gave him a sideways look.

"I'm always in a good mood when I'm with you." he replied looking at her admiringly. She smiled, and he took one hand off the steering wheel and brushed it against Evie's cheek. She smiled even more grabbed his hand and brought it up to her lips. The car wobbled, and Evie let go of Steve's hand. "Now you drive before you get us killed Steve Randle." She said, but she was laughing. He put his hand back on the steering wheel, but smiled widely.

Finally they were at the beach. "I'm going in," Evie said immediately. Steve couldn't help it but notice, how cute she looked in her black two piece swim suite. She had a really nice figure. Steve walked up to her and gave her a long kiss on the lips – "you are beautiful," he whispered. "I am going in," she said again, putting her hair in a bun so it wouldn't get wet.

"I'll be right there hun," Steve said, taking his converses off and noticing how nice the sand felt against his bare feet. Evie went in, while Steve got a stick and wrote in big letters on the sand "Evie Reynolds will you marry me?" and drew a large heart next to it.

In a few minutes Evie was back, "what's taking you so long? You haven't even taken your shirt off…" then she noticed his facial expression – "what?" She asked confused. He pointed at the message on the sand. She looked at it and froze "Oh my God …" He got on one knee and took the box out of his shirt pocket.

"Oh my god, oh no…" her eyes grew wide. He ran his fingers through his hair nervously, then opened the box – "Evie Reynolds will you marry me?" he said affection and pride in his voice. Her eyes watered with tears. "Yes," she whispered, wiping her eyes. He took the ring out of the box and put it on her finger. She wrapped her hands around his shoulders, and he spun her around. She kept looking at the ring. "It's beautiful," she finally said, stretching her arm out admiring it. Then all of the sudden she sighed heavily and said, "There is one problem though,"

"What's that?" Steve asked somewhat impatiently. The last thing he needed was any sort of a problem.

"You got to ask my dad." Evie said sounding somewhat apologetic and looking down.

"You are kidding right?" Steve croaked and let go of her hand staring at her in disbelief.

"No babe I ain't kidding. He will never let me get married without his permission." She said, gently brushing his hair out of his eyes. "I'm sorry," she added, "but you really got to ask him. We are going out for dinner tomorrow night you can join us, and you can ask him then".

Evie was one of the few who had a pretty decent family. Her parents were not divorced. They weren't drunks and nobody was beating nobody. To tell the truth Steve had always felt a little inferior whenever he was talking to her folks. They knew what kind of family Steve was from.

"What if he says no?" - Steve gave Evie a concerned look.

"He'll say yes, we'll talk him into it." She assured him, taking his hand.

Steve swallowed hard "Ok I'll do it. I still can't believe it though." He said reluctantly.

Evie leaned in and kissed Steve on the lips. Then she looked at him playfully and started running towards the water. He quickly threw his shirt and jeans off and started running after her. He reached her, picked her up bridal style and then threw her into the water. She laughed and started splashing him, he splashed her back. In this moment they both were genuinely happy.


	3. Chapter 3

The next evening Steve was feeling uneasy. He had to face Evie's dad, who could be intimidating. He carefully picked out his outfit picking some of his best clothes. Evie's parents were still greasers. Her dad was a plumber and her mom was a billing clerk at the doctor's office, but they were a strong family. They did things together like going out for dinner or a picnic or a baseball game. Steve put a lot of grease in his hair and combed it in complicated swirls.

He was supposed to meet them at the diner at 7:00. He was very nervous. He always thought Evie's dad didn't like him too much. He sighed heavily and started the car.

When he got to the diner he spotted Evie and her family at one of the tables right away.

"Hello," Steve cleared his throat, "Hi Mr. Reynolds, Mrs. Reynolds." He said hesitantly, glancing at Evie for support.

"Hello Steve it's nice of you to join us." Mrs. Reynolds replied taking her eyes off the menu and giving him a nod. Mr. Reynolds didn't look up from the menu, but gave just a slightest nod barely acknowledging Steve. Needless to say Steve didn't like how this evening was starting.

The waitress walked up to the table and they all ordered food. There was uncomfortable silence. Then Evie said, "Dad, Steve has something important to tell you." Way to bring the topic up Steve thought. They haven't even gotten the food yet. Evie's words got Mr. Reynolds' attention. He looked at Steve expectantly and somewhat confused. "What is Steven?" he asked reluctantly, crossing his arms.

"Well, Mr. Reynolds…," Steve ran his fingers through his hair. He didn't know how to bring in delicately so he just went for it – "well, if it's ok with you I'd like to marry your daughter." Mr. Reynolds choked on his drink. He clearly was caught off guard. His facial expression changed and his face tuned red. He was just silent as if he lost his ability to speak. Steve felt his heart beat faster and his palms get all sweaty. He had a bad feeling about this.

"Ta-da," Evie said stretching her hand out showing off the ring. "Isn't it beautiful?" She asked while smiling happily.

"Oh honey," her mom spoke up, taking her hand and taking a closer look at the ring "it's really nice, but what's the rush? You two are barely out of High School."

"You don't understand mother," Evie countered frowning, "Steve and I, we love each other."

By then Mr. Reynolds seemed to get his speech back. "Absolutely not," his voice bellowed and he looked really angry.

"But daddy …" Evie forced a smile, but the smile was very meek.

"Don't' daddy me," Mr. Reynolds interrupted, "you are barely 18 years old. I'm sure it's just a phase." He added clearly irritated.

Evie couldn't believe what she was hearing. She didn't expect that from her dad. She was nervously twirling a napkin in her hands, tearing small pieces and placing them on the table "It's not a phase," she replied sounding desperate, and a tear rolled down her cheek. "Steve and I have been together for a long time, we love each other can't you understand." She raised her voice a little, and looked her father right in the eyes.

"That's very nice, but until you have a job and can provide for yourself I don't see you getting married." Mr. Reynolds said gruffly, taking a sip of his water, his normal color returning to his face.

"I know what it's about you never did like Steve did you?" Evie yelled, more tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Can't say I have," her dad smirked with cruel honesty. "What is it that you do again?" he turned his attention to Steve. Through all of this Steve remained silent, turning his head to Evie then Mr. Reynolds then Evie again as they spoke.

"He works at the gas station, the DX and one day he's gonna own it you'll see." Evie answered for Steve, passion in her voice.

"Sure," her dad said sarcastically.

Evie covered her eyes with her palms, "Please daddy," she pleaded.

"I said no and that's final," Mr. Reynolds slammed his fist against the table, and glared at Steve.

At this moment the food arrived, and Mr. Reynolds proceeded to cut and eat his steak as if nothing had happened and the conversation about marriage never occurred.

"I'm not hungry," Evie yelled throwing the napkin onto the table and starting to run towards the exit. "Evie wait," Steve yelled. He got up quickly and started running after her.

He caught up with her outside. She hid her face in his shoulder and cried.

"It's all right baby," he tried to comfort her, "it's gonna be all right."

"I didn't expect that," she sobbed. Then she took a deep breath, looked Steve right in the eyes and said, "Who needs him, we are going to get married anyway. I don't need his stinky permission." Steve exhaled loudly - this is what he hoped to hear.

"I love you baby," he said affectionately holding her shoulders and kissing her gently on the forehead.

"I love you too Steve," she smiled through her tears.


	4. Chapter 4

A few days later Steve was driving down main street car radio on listening to the weather forecast. There supposed to be a storm, and Steve was hoping to get home before it started. There seemed to be a traffic jam - everybody was trying to get home before the storm. Steve was honking his horn in frustration, which of course didn't help. Some guy from the car ahead stuck his head out of the window and showed Steve a middle finger to which Steve cursed loudly.

There was loud thunder. All o f the sudden it got really dark and the lightning flashed through the darkness. Great Steve punched his fist on the steering wheel. It started pouring with hail bumping against the car windows. Finally the cars started moving slowly, and then Steve was able to go full speed. The cars in front o f him were speeding too. It was really hard to see with the water and hail on the windshield and the road was slippery.

Suddenly, Steve saw through the water a truck which was going in the opposite direction on another lane and merged into Steve's lane a few cars ahead of Steve. Steve panicked - he's going to crash he thought. Right then there was a loud bang as the truck plowed into one of the cars. The car swiveled from the road on to the curb and was turned to the side. The windows broke all the shards falling inside the car. It was pouring. The truck appeared to be not hurt. The truck driver wheeled the truck to the right lane and drove away. Steve couldn't believe it. He was torn it was really pouring and he was risking getting into a car accident himself, but he couldn't just leave.

There was no sight of the driver as the car was now upside down on the curb. The driver must be trapped inside Steve thought. Steve cursed but got out of the car. He ran towards the overturned car stepping into dirt and feeling his wet hair cling to his cheeks. Some other driver also got out of the car and was running behind Steve. It was pitch dark and only the headlights from Steve's car provided some sort of faded light.

Steve got to the car. The window was broken, and Steve stuck his head inside. He could hardly see. The driver was trapped inside, he was on his side unconscious, the seatbelt still on, glass everywhere. His head was bleeding and there was blood on his hands and his temples. The other guy caught up with Steve. Together they tried to open the car door, but it was stuck. They needed to break the rest of the window and drag the driver out the car. Steve quickly took off his shirt and wrapped it around his hand then punched the window glass.

The lightning stroke, and for a moment the driver's face was illuminated. Steve froze - it was Evie's dad. Recovering from his shock Steve reached into the car and unbuckled the seatbelt, then started to drag Evie's dad out through the window. The glass was hurting him in the process but there was nothing Steve could do about that.

Finally he was able to pull Evie's dad out. He was bleeding all over, and Steve's hand was bleeding too in spite of him wrapping it in the shirt.

"We got to get him to the hospital it's faster than waiting for the ambulance," the other guy said to Steve. Steve nodded while wiping the blood off his arm – "I'll get him to the hospital right away."

"You need any help?" The other guy asked.

"Nah, I'm gonna be all right," Steve replied confidently, wiping off drops of rain and sweat of his face.

"All right then, I'm going to get going." the other guy said, and Steve nodded again. He carried Mr. Reynolds to his car and carefully put him in the back, then got in to the driver's seat. Thank god there was no traffic jam by then.

The storm was going on full force. It got even darker, and thunder was roared in the air. The car wheels squeaked loudly as Steve made a left turn, and the car wobbled. "Shit," Steve cursed, "I may get into an accident myself."

Finally in about fifteen minutes they were at the hospital. Evie's dad was slightly on the heavy side, and it was difficult for Steve to carry him, but he managed to get him inside. Suddenly Evie's dad opened his eyes. He looked at Steve helplessly and moaned.

"Easy, easy, it's ok we are at the hospital now." Steve tried to say soothingly as he proceeded carrying Mr. Reynolds into ER.

"The other driver…" Mr. Reynolds said weakly," the bastard drove off." It was more of a statement than a question.

"Yeah," Steve confirmed, "he drove off, but you shouldn't be talking right now. Just hold on you'll get help soon."

In the ER Steve quickly explained what had happened, and the nurse placed Mr. Reynolds on to the gurney and wheeled him away. Steve was drenched and he noticed that people were looking at him funny, then he realized it was because he was not wearing a shirt. He put his drenched and bloody t-shirt back on. Now he was contemplating if he should call Evie right away or would it be better to hear from the doctor first. This was no easy task but Steve decided to call Evie right away. He found a payphone and dialed the number.

"Oh my God," Evie got hysterical, "and the other driver just drove away? Bastard. Thank God you were there Steve, is he still unconscious?" she asked through sobs. "No he gained consciousness just as I brought him into ER." Steve said, feeling really bad for Evie.

"Thank you so much Steve." She almost whispered, "you could've just drove away but you didn't." She trailed off sobbing some more.

"Hey," he said, "it's going to be alright."

"We don't know that." She started bawling.

"I love you baby." Steve said gently.

"I love you too Steve." Evie whispered.

In about twenty minutes Evie and Mrs. Reynolds were at the hospital. They were sitting next to Steve feeling anxious.

"Thank you very much Steve," Mrs. Reynolds said wiping a tear, "how did you know it was him?"

"I didn't." Steve replied simply.

"I t was so…," she sighed, "nice of you. God knows what would happen if you drove away." At those words Evie hid her face on Steve's shoulder and started sobbing loudly.

"Easy," Steve rubbed her back, "it's going to be alright."

Finally in about forty minutes the doctor called their name. They got up from their seats and almost ran towards the doctor.

"How is he? Is he going to be alright?" Mrs. Reynolds asked apprehensively. The doctor cleared his throat, - "he suffered a concussion and severe head injury."

"But he is going to be alright isn't he?" Evie almost whispered.

"We put stitches in his head to close up the wound. He will recover but..." he paused looking for the right words, "he maybe a little different."

"What do you mean?" Mrs. Reynolds asked confused.

"Well, he may have some memory problems and overall thinking process may not be as clear as before."

"Do you mean to say that he is going to be like retarded?" Evie choked up.

"Well, I wouldn't quite put it that way, but there may be some problems with memory and thought process. For example he may start thinking about something then jump to another thought and forget about the first one. If he's lucky the effects will be mild but we just can't tell for sure." Mrs. Reynolds covered her mouth with her hands to prevent from crying out loud.

"Can we see him?" Evie asked.

"Sure," the doctor replied, "room 205. Just make sure he doesn't talk too much." Evie and Mrs. Reynolds started walking towards the hallway while Steve stayed where he was.

"C'mon," Evie turned around.

"Um," Steve hesitated, "I don't think it's a good idea. I'll wait for you here ok?" "Ok," Evie nodded, and they left. Steve went back to his plastic chair. He sat down, sinking deep into the seat, and hung his head. In about fifteen minutes Mrs. Reynolds and Evie were back in the waiting room.

"He wants to see you." Evie said to Steve, "We explained to him what happened and how you saved him, and he wants to talk to you." Great Steve thought, but got up and started walking towards room 205.

"Hi Steven," Mr. Reynolds propped himself on his elbows.

"Hello Mr. Reynolds," Steve said in a low voice. He felt more than uneasy after the last encounter with Mr. Reynolds.

"I want to thank you son for what you did. You could've just left especially when you realized it was me, and how I treated you the last time." Steve looked down –"Anybody would've done the same thing."

"Oh you don't say. That truck driver sure as hell didn't do the same thing. I…" he paused, then continued, "I owe you an apology. You are a good kid after all, I've been unfair to you. And you know what?" Steve looked at him expectantly, "you may marry Evie. She'll be in good hands with you." Steve couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Thank you Mr. Reynolds," he said when he got his ability to speak back.

"Don't mention it son," Mr. Reynolds smiled weakly, "but…" he put his hand out, "make sure you get a good job, and treat Evie right."

"That I will do," Steve said looking Mr. Reynolds right in the eyes.

"Ok then," Mr. Reynolds kind of chuckled, "now get out of here I'm sure you got better things to do than talking to an old man like, me."

Steve went back to the waiting room quite stunned.

"What is it?" Evie asked her face turning pale.

"He said it's ok." Steve said still shocked then he hugged Evie and spun her around.

"What are you talking about?" she asked when he put her down.

"He said I can marry you. He gives his permission." Evie was overwhelmed with everything that had happened. She collapsed into a chair, covered her face with her palms and started crying her shoulders shaking with sobs.

"C'mon honey," Mrs. Reynolds said "let's get going." Steve stretched his arm for Evie to grab, she did, and he pulled her up. She wiped her eyes and smiled tiredly at Steve. "Let's get out of here."

"You don't have to say that twice." Steve said.


End file.
